Marek Urbanski is a senior goalkeeper and two-year starter for the NYU men's soccer team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Tuesday, Sept. 22
We’ve had four games since I last updated and have had mixed results, winning two and losing two as well. When we’re at our best we can create chances on goal during whenever we keep possession on the ball. We’re starting to get used to our formation, we are coming into games with the right level of intensity and are able to keep possession in the opposing half with relative ease.
Our biggest win this season so far came against Manhattanville on Sept. 12. We had an amazing first half; our backline was impenetrable and kept the action away from me, we held onto the ball like it contained our college tuition and gave up very few turnovers, and we scored off yet another set piece. If we play every game like we played that first half we will be going to the big dance at the end of the year without a doubt.
Our win against Baruch last Saturday was also really important and couldn’t have come at a better time for us. We had a less-than-stellar performance against Richard Stockton and this game really put the wind back in our sails. This was Brandon Hintz’s first game of the season and he couldn’t have had a better performance. We are a fairly young team
and the presence of another senior on the field with his experience and knowledge of the game really brought us to another gear in our offense.
There are nly two more games left until we play Rochester to open our UAA schedule. We cannot afford to not
play at our potential anymore because all of the teams in our conference will run us into the ground if we don’t. We still need to prove that we can win games on a consistent basis, and that is something that we will establish in our next two games.
Thursday, Sept. 11
This past game against Kean was a tough one for our squad. We had a lot of injuries and illnesses on the team and did not have the full roster that we would have liked to have had. That being said, we did not play to our potential and we had a really disappointing performance. We played with low intensity, allowed our opponents way too much time on the ball, and were not keeping possession effectively at all.
Despite all of our shortcomings last Wednesday, we still could have tied, even won this game. Logan (Smith) got fouled in the box shortly after Kean scored in the first half that the ref missed. Had we scored, then it would have changed the dynamic of the game completely. We also had another chance late in the second half; a sitter 12 yards out that
we missed as well. We are creating goal-scoring opportunities despite all of our other flaws, and as long as we can get those chances we will be competitive in any game we play. The goals will come, we just have to keep on pushing forward and creating those opportunities.
Friday and Saturday’s games are crucial for us. Our UAA games are slowly creeping up on us and we need to start building our winning record ASAP. We have the right players to have a successful season this year, we just need to play to our potential and raise our intensity coming into games and I think we will be able to accomplish our goals for this season.
Friday, Sept. 3
Welcome week, for most students at NYU, is a time to get to get settled in their new dorms, meet new people, see the U.S. Open, Broadway productions, and adjust to the hectic lifestyle that Manhattan presents. But not for us. This week marks the start of our season and we had possibly our toughest game of the season against Stevens Institute of Technology.
When I was a freshmen, we played Stevens in our first preseason game and in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, beating them in the preseason and advancing past them in a shootout. It was made very clear to me by the upperclassmen that for whatever reason we do not like Stevens, and that this has been the case for years and years. Each time we’ve played Stevens they provide us with stiff competition and give us a chance to see where our team really stands.
This year was no exception. Stevens is ranked second in the nation and we were playing them on their home field, which is usually a hostile environment for us at best.
We didn’t quite the get the result that we hoped for, but we took a lot out of that game. Despite a couple of defensive breakdowns, we were able to match their level of play for a good portion of the game and put a lot of pressure on their defense. We also scored off a set piece, something that’s going to be crucial for us later in the season.
This loss put a lot of things in perspective for us and taught us some valuable lessons that we will take and apply starting next game against the City College of New York this Saturday at one of our “home” fields at NJIT. We are all focused and we will make sure we get back on track.
